Selling Homes In Iowa

We had the opportunity to give a presentation to the Iowa Realty Office in Waukee Iowa.  First let me say "thank you" for all of the hospitality, and the time in your office and with your agents.  We covered a number of topics, but the one we spent the most time on was the importance of repairing your wet basement or broken foundation before trying to sell your house.

Selling a house with a dry basement and a good foundation is simply worth more money.  In most cases, up to 15% more money.  Another way to think about it is, your property will hold value, and you don't have to have the discussion of discounting your home because of foundation problems.  So the best time to repair your foundation is well before you sell the home or consider putting it on the market.  There is something else to consider.  How motivated would you be to sell a home that is broken compared to selling other homes that are in good repair?  The answer is obvious, we would all rather sell homes or buy homes that are fixed and ready to go, rather than homes that are broken.  This would be true for real estate agents as well.

Here are a couple of staggering statistics we found in consumer reports, Claritis, and TRG reporting.  First, most folks will walk away from a home that has a distressed basement or foundation.  In fact, of 100 people who might come and look at the home 92 of them will walk away.  The 8 that are left are not going to pay anything close to the asking price.  Second, a home with a wet basement or broken foundation can sit on the market for months.  Sometimes 24 months or more. 

Something to consider, why fix your leaky basement, bowed walls, cracked wall or settling foundation to sell so that someone else can enjoy it?  Why not fix these problems NOW so you and your family can enjoy a clean, dry, stable and healthy basement?  You can have more usable space!  Think about what you can do with all of the new space in your home to roam around in?

In summary, to maximize the efforts of your real estate agent, and their agency, to hold value or to get more money for your home, and to have excited potential buyers for your property, take the time to get your basement water proofed and your foundation fixed and stabilized.  You can contact us for a free written estimate at either 1-515-289-1606 or click here to request an estimate online.